Chapter 12

12

The next morning,I found myself knocking on Mizuki’s door, looking for directions.

She emerged bright-eyed and ready to go. “Morning, Sadie. Ready to test your magic?”

“Sure?” Forgive me if I didn’t sound certain, because what kind of test were we talking about? Would it hurt? I didn’t handle pain very well. Bad period cramps had been known to make me cancel work to spend the day huddled with a hot water bottle, stuffed with Tylenol, and high on marijuana.

“Don’t worry. It will be painless, but let’s grab breakfast first.”

The morning meal proved less chaotic than dinner with maybe twenty or so people actually in the dining hall. The eggs, bacon, and hashed potatoes were delicious, but I ceased eating when Cain entered. His gaze scanned those seated until it hit me. He then strode in my direction, duster flaring, expression intent. My tummy did flip-flops. Goddamn, the man was hot.

“Morning,” I stated with a bright smile he didn’t return.

“You need to come with me.” All he said before he turned and stomped away.

“Someone got up on the wrong side,” Mizuki murmured.

“I better go see what’s up with him.” I stood as Mizuki protested.

“But we were going to test your magic.”

“We will after I see what’s wrong with Cain.” I grabbed a hashbrown and munched on it as I hastened to catch up. Cain headed from the dining area to the front entrance of the castle and was almost out the door before I shouted, “Yo, Sir Grumpy, could you slow down and tell me what’s going on?”

“There’s been an incident,” he tossed without turning around.

“Could you be any vaguer?” I remarked. “I ain’t going anywhere until you actually explain yourself.”

He paused and turned to face me. “The store you work for was vandalized last night.”

“And? It’s not exactly a great neighborhood. Not to mention, we’ve been hit before.”

“The damage came from demons.”

The news froze me. “Shit. Is Enzo okay?”

“Your employer is unharmed, but it would appear those who trashed your place of employment left a message for you.”

“What kind of message?”

“You’ll see,” he growled in reply as he stepped out the door.

I didn’t budge. He reentered with a glower. “Why are you not following?”

“Because, for one, you’re being an ass. Two, this sounds like a bad idea, and three, why the fuck would I go somewhere there might be demons when I’m safe here?”

“Fine. You want to stay. Stay.” He turned around to leave, and I gaped.

“That’s it? You’re not going to try and convince me?”

“Either you come or you don’t. I’m not begging.”

The door shut, and I face a choice. Stay and get tested or…

I ran for the door and heaved it open, prepared to run to catch Cain, only he stood right outside. I glared at him. “You are such an ass.”

His lips quirked ever so slightly. “I’m aware. Let’s go.”

“I still don’t see why I’m needed. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just take a pic of this message and show me here, where I’m safe?”

“You’re safe with me.” His low, rumbled promise.

“Unless there’s a shit-ton of demons again,” I pointed out as my short stride tried to keep up with his.

“There isn’t.”

“That you know of.”

“The witches scried and say whatever hit your store is gone.”

“For now… And didn’t you say the demons could sometimes hide from their magic?” I countered.

“Then you better hope your magical hand trick works again.”

“Funny you should say that because that was one of the things I planned to learn before being rudely dragged away.”

“Hardly dragged,” he replied dryly.

“I wasn’t even finished with my breakfast.”

“I haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon so cry me a river.”

“Why didn’t you grab something from the buffet?”

“Because.”

“Because is not an answer.” Something my mom used to say all the time.

“Must you natter all the time?” he sighed.

“Yes. And it’s not nattering. It’s called conversation.”

“That implies two or more people engaging in it. I don’t want to talk,” was his grouchy reply.

“Then don’t. But I will keep asking questions, such as, how did the demon hunt in the subway go?”

“Good.”

“Good? That’s it?”

“What do you want to know?”

“How many were there? Are you sure you got them all? Did anyone get hurt? Are you okay?” I didn’t mean to slip that last query in there, but once out, I couldn’t retract it.

Despite his orneriness, he replied, “There were a good twenty or so demons. No casualties on our side, but Franco did get a few slashes that will need stitching.”

“Mizuki claims that the subway infestation was larger than usual.”

“It was. The most we’ve ever seen in one spot.”

“Why?”

“How the fuck would I know?”

“Because you’re a reaper. Demon hunting is your thing. As such, I would think you would know their habits and whatnot,” I countered primly.

He growled. “I thought I did, but something has changed in the past few months.”

“That’s not good.”

“No shit.”

“Since you killed the demons in the subway, then I assume the ones that attacked the shop weren’t from the same group.”

“Again, hard to know. Perhaps they split off before we wiped them out. While unusual, it could be we’ve had multiple doorways open in a short period of time.”

Weird conversation, but my fantasy-reading ass kind of loved it. This was better than a book, and I had questions. “These portals that release the monsters, how do they come about? Like, is someone opening doors from this Inferis place you spoke of? Is it a random natural occurrence?”

“A bit of both. There have always been doorways between the two worlds, but the permanent ones have long since been deactivated. What we’ve been encountering of late are wild portals. They open suddenly, without pattern, and release anywhere from one to four demons.”

“I thought you said the subway had twenty.”

“It did, and there’s no indication yet if they came from a single doorway or many.”

“Who’s opening them?”

At my question, he frowned. “We’re not sure if they’re naturally occurring or intentional. Either way, it’s disturbing and is making our job more difficult. Especially since Toronto isn’t the only place dealing with an increase in demons. And before you ask, Toronto seems to be getting it the worst, and, no, I don’t know why.”

“Thanks for replying,” I stated, “Was that so hard to do?”

He cast me a sideways glance and, utterly deadpan, said, “Yes.”

My lips tilted. “Too bad. So sad.”

We reached the dais of stone, and he pulled out his strange amulet. As he dangled it, once more I had to bug him.

I cocked my head. “I guess we’re teleporting.”

“What gave it away?”

“Ha. Ha. Smartass. How does it work?”

“Magic.”

“Obviously. I meant, how does it know where to take us? Like, do you have to enter coordinates? Sing a song? Do an intricate dance? Or does it only go to other stone patios like this one?” I tapped my foot on the dais.

“I think of a location.”

“Think? Seems kind of abstract.”

“And yet it works.”

“Aren’t you worried it will deposit you inside a wall or something? What if there’s people around to see?”

“The magic only deposits in open spaces, and so long as I’m wearing my coat, I’m invisible. Now, if you’re done dissecting magic tech that I can’t explain, can we go?” He waited.

I pursed my lips. “You swear it’s safe?” A dumb question perhaps, but I wanted to be sure.

“For the most part.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“There are fewer incidents teleporting than there are car accidents.”

“Says you. Exactly what kind of incidents are we talking about?”

“In rare instances, people don’t reach their destination.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. They never made it so we couldn’t ask.”

“Is there not another way out? Don’t you have a plane or a helicopter?”

He crossed his arms. “No. Stop stalling.”

“You really need to work on your reassurance speech.”

“You need to stop making mountains out of molehills. Now get close.”

“How close?” I grumbled as I stepped into his space.

“Closer.”

“How’s this?” I neared enough I could smell the musk of him. I craned to look up and saw his face tilted to glance at me.

“We need to be touching.” Without warning, his arm went around my waist and pulled me hard against him.

My breath caught. Our eyes locked. I felt a tingle between my legs.

Then I was gasping at the sudden cold and darkness—an infinite void of nothingness, and yet in that nothing space, a voice whispered words I didn’t understand.

The weirdness lasted only a few seconds and left me huffing out a puff of air that hung like a tiny cloud. It dissipated, and I sucked in a lungful of warm, city-polluted oxygen.

Home, sweet smelly home. I recognized the alley as the one behind our shop. Only the last time I’d dumped cardboard in the recycling bin the door hadn’t been torn from its hinges and its mangled, metal body tossed to the side of the dumpster.

“Holy shit. Demons did that?” I exclaimed.

“Yes.”

“Must have been a big fucking demon,” I huffed.

“Most likely a gigadae.”

“A what?”

“A type of demon. Bigger and stronger than the ones you’ve seen thus far. Extremely rare for one to be seen on Earth.”

“You killed it, right?”

“We haven’t located it yet.”

I hugged myself as I eyed the alley suspiciously. “Meaning it could be close by.”

“If it is, I will handle it. But I doubt we need to worry. It’s daytime.”

“Are they like vampires and the sun melts them?”

“No. But it does ruin their fog camouflage.”

“Wait, you mean the sun makes it so people can see them?” Nova had said something about daylight the day before, but I hadn’t really clued in.

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

“Not really, because they know better than to expose themselves during the day. We should get inside before people wonder why you’re talking to thin air.”

My lips pinched. “You know, I only have your word you’re actually invisible.”

“Then don’t believe me. Don’t care.”

“Guess it’s too late to turn around.” I eyed the gaping doorway with trepidation.

“There is nothing that will harm you inside.”

“Better not be or I will be pissed!” I stomped inside, only to stop dead at the destruction. Not a single shelf remained intact in the storage room. Every single one had been smashed, the contents strewn on the floor. I picked my way carefully across the perilous floor where sharp shards of glass abounded. I made it to the store itself and sucked in a breath.

Everything had been smashed. Plates and cups, broken. Pots and pans, dented. The window to the store busted. The cash register on the floor and in pieces.

“Where’s the message?” I asked as Cain loomed at my back. I didn’t see any paper with writing, and the walls showed no signs of anything written.

“Look up,” he murmured.

My head rolled back, and my jaw dropped. On the ceiling, in what seemed to be shit and blood, two words had been painted. Two scary fucking words.

Find Sadie.